Hittemore



. J H R. WHIT'EEMOBE, r onioorrn rALLsMAssA nv ETrs.

Specification of Letters PatentNo. 33,1 19,,dated A,ug1 1st2Q, 1861.

To} all whom z'ijmayconcern:

Be it known that I, JorrN R. Wnrrrnnronn,

of Ghicopee Falls, in the county of Hampden and Commonwealth ofMassachusetts,

chine is represented by a side sectional View.

In said drawing letter A, is the common hide roll for cutting against.

B, is the cylinder for holding the knives, usually made of iron; 0, thearbor or center in hide roll.

I), D, D, are the knives for cutting; E

side board to the hopper; F top board to the mouth piece of the hopper;Gr, movable spring board in the mouth of the hopper.

H, is the spring which presses the block I, against the spring board G.

J, J, J, is the wood frame, the cross lines 7 upon some parts showingwhere the machine is cut to show it in sections; K, the spring whichkeeps the hide roll from pressing too hard upon the cylinder of knivesbelow.

L is the set screw which keeps the roll down upon the edge of the knivesbelow, so that any feed may be cut that is brought between them.

M, M, M, is the iron frame which holds the roll, knives, &c.

N represents the position of the balance wheel.

The nature of my invention consists mainly in the use of common hideroll and cylinder of knives; using therewith a less number of knivesthan can be used with said roll and cylinder alone; and then combiningwith said roll and knives a compressible mouth to the hopper, theadvantages of which I will hereafter describe.

The roll A is made of rawhide in the usual wayviz., it is first cut intocircles with a hole in their centers, and then forced upon an arbor by apowerful press until they are solid, and then held firm at each end andwhen turned off in a lathe a smooth hard surface is left to out against.The knives in the cylinder B, are held by forcing them into slots madein the cylinder, but may be held by screws or other ways. These knivesare so arranged that in their revolution their edges will merely touchthe roll above for the purpose of cutting anything that may be broughtbetween them. This roll turns only when acted upon by the knives below,

to, w hich cylinder of knives. the crank is, apphed,

The mouth of; the hopper through which the feed passes ismadecompressible, or variable, but is not new independent of its, combinations. The sides of the hopper form each end, a stationary board Fforms the top, with the board G at the bottom, which board is hinged atone end as seen, and acted upon by the spring H, and block I, whichpress against it. This spring runs back over the standard which supportsthe hop per, and is held between the standard and hopper, and is allowedto slide forward and back according to the pressure desired upon thespring board G, and the feed in the mouth of the hopper. WVhen pressedback as represented a hard pressure is produced; but when entirelyforward very little or none.

In cutting some kinds of feed as hay, when considerable length isdesired, but little pressure is needed; but when it is desired to cutstalks, the number of knives usually used prevents their being cut toadvantage, the knives being so near together the stalks are crowded inbetween them and clog it up so that it cuts slow and hard, very few canbe cut at once; but by dispensing with all but two or three knives thereis no chance for clogging between them and about three times as large abody of feed can be cut very easy. Then this compressible mouth isabsolutelynecessary to prevent the stalks from coming back from theplace or point of cutting, so that the neXt revolving knife will takehold of it, and when it does take hold of it to prevent it being drawntoo easily and thus too far forward, causing it to be out too long. Itgives a regularity of cut which otherwise cannot be obtained also makingit self-feeding.

If the knives upon the cylinder B are near enough together so that theknives behind shall pinch the feed to hold it before the one in fronthas cut it off, the feed and more especially stalks will crowd and clogbetween them. Then to make an effectual stalk cutter from the commonhide roll outter it is necessary to use a less number of knives than hasheretofore been used, and if so it is necessary to combine with it acomlent, to hold the feed until the next revolving knife shall reachit,draw it forward and cut it off. The hide roll cutter has heretofore beenconsidered not valuable for stalks for the reason above named, it is nota selffeeder without at least five knives upon the cylinder which aretoo many for stalks.

Although a less number of knives upon the cylinder does not produce asmany cuts at a turn of the crank, yet, this deficiency is more than madeup by the larger body of feed it will cut at once. This compressiblemouth Will so regulate and hold the feed back and compress it, that oneknife will out twice as fine as twelve or fourteen in the usual way forfine cuts; and three knives will cut as fast as fourteen, because of thelarger body of feed it will cut at once. It is intended to use in thismachine from one to 7 three knives. The roll can also be "made smalleras a less number of knives cut upon it to wear 1t out, thus a largermachlne can be furnished for the same price or a machine of the samesize at a less price.

I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is Thecompressible mouth ofthe hopper in combination with the hide rollAor-its 7 equivalent and the cylinder of knives B, substantially as andfor the purpose specified WVitnesses:

D. E. TAYLOR, GEORGE S. TAYLOR.

JOHN R. WVHITTEMORE.

